This election season has been a doozy, just ask anyone above the age of 13. We've gone from having a field of over 20 major-party candidates last August to having just two. Well, not officially, but Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are their respective party's presumptive nominees at this point in time.

Trust me, I don't like writing those words any more than I like thinking about them. The pair of them have been celebrities long before this presidential race, and now one of them will probably be our next Commander-in-Chief. Scary thought huh? I recently read a poll that says that the majority of the two candidates' supporters are voting them out of their dislike for the other candidate.

Really? Is that where America is? Is that what America wants to be?

I certainly hope not. Neither candidate deserves to be at the helm of the last best hope on Earth. I don't believe either candidate can keep Americans safe abroad, I don't believe either candidate can adequately repair our damaged alliances, and I don't believe either candidate can garner the respect of the international community or the majority of Americans here at home.

But is that our fault? Donald Trump has rightly won the Republican nomination. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Mrs. Clinton has defeated her more progressive rival Mr. Sanders to secure the nomination of the Democratic Party. People voted for them. Americans voted for them. It is high-time we respect these outcomes. We are allowed to disagree with our choices, but to threaten the candidates' lives, families or friends and allies is more un-American than anything either candidate has ever said.

It is easy to get caught up in the political circus act, believe me, I know I have, but it is what we have. I am here to tell you that we have other choices for President. There is virtually no chance they will win, but other parties do exist in this country. Yes, your vote will still count. In fact, it will count more than any vote cast for the losing candidate. If you are dissatisfied with both candidates and don't want either to be President, use your constitutional privilege and voice your dissent come November.

I've heard a lot of people say that there is a chance that Candidate X will accomplish Objective Y, and so they are voting for Candidate X. Are we really leaving the future of following generations to chance now? I mean, using that logic, there's a chance that truck won't hit my car so I'm going to go ahead and turn into oncoming traffic. Seems like a good idea, right?

All that being said, we still have Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump. Now, I may decide to vote for one of them in November. And my children will one day ask what I did when this historic occasion came about. Did I stand up for what I believe, or did I follow a lie?

I am still of the belief that almost everything either candidate has said has been just that. Lies. I will let others debate the content of each candidate's character, but neither has the qualities we have seen in our most revered Presidents: Honoring the liberties and freedoms upon which this nation was founded, respecting those who disagree with them, and genuine compassion for the least privileged in our nation. We have a candidate who says her enemy whom she is most proud of making is "Republicans" and we another candidate who does what we all did when were 8 and calls his opponents silly names.

And one of them will be the 45th President of the United States of America. Maybe we should change the phrase "One Nation Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to "God Help Us."